Another day, another old gun - anybody know anything about old H&R break-tops?

[Martinjmpr]

Going through Dad's old stuff I came across this. According to my brother it belonged to my grandfather but we know absolutely nothing about it:



From my limited internet "research" it seems to be a break-top Harrington and Richardson (H&R) 5 shot revolver. It's very small, "pocket sized." Assuming most of us here know the size of a K-frame Smith and Wesson revolver, here it is side-by-side with a Model 15, so you can see how small it really is:



No serial number, and no caliber markings. I haven't taken the grips off but unless there is a serial number under the grips, it doesn't appear to have one. This is literally the only marking on the gun:



Sorry for the poor cell phone pic but the top line reads "Harrington and Richardson Arms Co." and the second line reads "Worcester, Mass U.S.A."

From what I've read on other sites, no caliber markings means the gun is likely chambered for the .32 S&W, also called .32 Short.

One of the posts I saw on a forum said something about "all H&R guns have serial numbers." Well, like I said, unless it's under the grip panel, this pistol does not seem to have one.

The gun is not currently functional (I can pull the trigger and the hammer falls, but the cylinder moves freely even with the gun closed so it is not safe to fire.) No plans on repairing, honestly I'm not even sure what to do with it.

Like I said above, I don't know any of the actual history of it so it really has no meaning to me except that it was in my dad's estate and had apparently belonged to his father before that.

If anyone has a good source of info on old H&R revolvers, can you point me to it?

Thanks!

[3beansalad]

Some quick research refers to similar revolvers as either 1896 Hammerless, a Model 775 or a Model 860. Of course Numrich doesn't have any of those models listed, but this looks promising. (https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-man...-sf-hammerless)
One source said the serial number is under top rail and visible with cylinder removed. I also saw some mention of the possible chambering being 22, 32 or 38.
Good luck in your search.

[zteknik]

I have one just like it, I have to check it out when I get home. Is a .32 short, trigger pull is horrible and ammo is hard to find. Good little piece for display if anything else.

[Martinjmpr]

Some quick research refers to similar revolvers as either 1896 Hammerless, a Model 775 or a Model 860. Of course Numrich doesn't have any of those models listed, but this looks promising. (https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-man...-sf-hammerless)
One source said the serial number is under top rail and visible with cylinder removed. I also saw some mention of the possible chambering being 22, 32 or 38.
Good luck in your search.

Bingo.

So I did some internet searching and found out the way to remove the cylinder. Serial number was under there, 20XXXX. As with many old guns that had hand fitted parts, the cylinder also bears the last 3 numbers of the SN. I also pulled the hard rubber grips off and the SN is stamped into the side of the frame under the grip as well.

Still trying to identify the age. From what I've seen starting in 1905 they stamped the caliber on the barrel and that indicates the gun is safe to use with smokeless powder. No caliber apparently indicates Black Powder only, caliber would be .32 S&W also called .32 short.